As businesses increasingly rely on computers for their daily operations, managing the vast amount of business information generated and processed has become a challenge. Most large businesses have a wide variety of application programs managing large volumes of data stored on many different types of storage devices across various types of networks and operating system platforms. These storage devices can include tapes, disks, optical disks, and other types of storage devices.
Performing various operations on the vast amount of data stored by such distributed storage systems has its complexities. Businesses can employ various tools to perform data backup, snapshots, and other file operations. However, some of these storage devices can be removable, allowing a storage device to be moved between different computing devices. Thus, accompanying this flexibility in distributed storage is the complexity of managing data stored by a large number of devices, including some devices that can be moved between various computing devices.
While the embodiments of the application are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments are provided as examples in the drawings and detailed description. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description are not intended to limit the embodiments to the particular form disclosed. Instead, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.